Hinged overcap



Dec. 24, 1968 c. L. JOHNSON HINGED OVERCAP Filed Dec. 29, 1967 IIII\"VE\"IOR Charles L. Johnson Fig. 4

A T TORNE YS United States Patent 3,417,897 HINGED OVERCAP Charles L.Johnson, Deer Park, Ohio, assignor to The Procter & Gamble Company,Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Dec. 29, 1967, Ser. No.694,579 6 Claims. (Cl. 220-60) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A unitaryovercap having an integral hinge dividing the overcap into a coverportion and a door portion. The cover portion is adapted to remainstationary with respect to the container to which it is attached bymeans of a pair of spaced, depending, peripheral skirts whichcooperatively grip an outwardly extending peripheral ridge in thesidewall of the container. The door portion is hinged to the coverportion and is movable, permitting access to the interior of a containerand subsequent reclosure by means of a single depending peripheral skirtwhich engages the circumferential bead of the container.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a closure, andmore particularly to a unitary, hinged overcap wherein an integral hingedivides the overcap into a stationary cover portion and into a movabledoor portion to provide access to the package and permit easy reclosure.

The construction of containers used for packaging various consumerproducts such as, for example, plastic shortening and roasted, groundcoffee, has recently been changed from a key open can with either anintegral, hinged cover, or a separate but replaceable cover, to asocalled sanitary can with a separate, transparent plastic overcap. Thepresent packages have the plastic overcap attached to the can insnap-fitting arrangement. In order to open the cans to permit theutilization of the product therein contained, the user must remove theovercap and then remove the metal top of the sanitary can with a canopener. The metal top is discarded and after withdrawing the desiredquantity of product, the plastic overcap is reapplied to provideprotection for the product between uses. This package has the advantagesof being less expensive and more trouble-free than the formerconstruction utilizing a key and a tear strip. In addition, thetransparent plastic overcap permits a visual determination to be made ofthe quantity of product remaining in the container without the necessityfor opening the package. With the former package, which had a metalcover, it was necessary to remove the cover to determine the quantity ofproduct remaining within the can.

In use, the present sanitary can-plastic overcap combination isgenerally satisfactory but necessitates that two hands be used wheneverthe plastic overcap is removed or reapplied. The reason for this is thatthe plastic overcap is adapted to snugly grip and fit over the can chimeand in order to remove the overcap or later reapply it, either the canitself must be grasped with one hand while the other is used to removeor reapply the overcap or the overcap itself must be manipulated byusing both hands. This is a cumbersome operation and because of theflexibility of the overcap it is possible for it to be inadvertentlypushed into the can and into contact with the product therein containedrather than being forced onto the top of the can, thereby causing anunsightly and undesirable accumulation of product thereon. Additionally,because the overcap must be completely removed to gain access to thecontents of the package, it is possible to misplace or lose it. It is anobject of the present invention 3,417,897 Patented Dec. 24, 1968 toprovide an improved overcap which can be opened or closed with the useof only one hand and which remains partially attached to the containerto avoid loss or misplacement.

Summary of the invention Briefly stated, in accordance with one aspectof the present invention, a unitary, hinged overcap is provided for usewith a container having sidewalls and an outwardly extending peripheralridge. The overcap is initially substantially planar in shape andconforms in cross section with that of the container to which it isapplied. An integral hinge is formed in the top wall to divide theovercap into a stationary, cover portion, which remains attached to thecontainer, and a movable, door portion, which is hingedly attached tothe cover portion along a common boundary. The door portion has meansfor releasably attaching it to the ridge of the container. The coverportion has means for constraining that part of the overcap to theridge, the latter means comprising a first sealing skirt and a secondsealing skirt spaced from the first, and skirts being adapted tocooperatively enclose and grip the outwardly extending peripheral ridgeof the container.

Brief description of the drawings FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary perspectiveview showing the overcap of the present invention applied to acontainer;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the overcap and containerof FIGURE 1 wherein the closure is partially opened to permit access tothe container;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken along the line 3-3of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view showing the grippingmeans for attaching the stationary cover portion of the overcap to apackage;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the gripping meanswhereby the movable door portion is attached to the package;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view show ing one form ofhinge configuration;

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view showing another form ofhinge configuration; and

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary side view showing the overcap of the presentinvention locked in the fully opened condition.

Description 0 the preferred embodiments Referring now to the drawings,and particularly to FIGURES 1 and 2, there is shown the unitary hingelovercap 10 of the present invention as applied to a container 11. Thecontainer shown is a conventional metallic sanitary can of the type inwhich plastic shortening or roasted, ground coffee is typicallypackaged. Necessarily, the overcap shown has a circular cross-sectionsince the container to which it is applied is also of circularcrosssection. However, this should not be construed as a limitation onthe possible shapes that the overcap of the present invention can take,as overcaps of the present invention can be applied to containers of anycross section, in-

cluding, for example, those having a rectangular cross section and thosehaving an oval cross section. Furthermore, although the container isdisclosed in terms of a metallic can, it is not necessary that thatparticular construction be employed and containers formed from plastics,paperboard, or the like, such as, for example, plas-.

hinge comprising a section of reduced thickness that extends across topwall 12. The overcap is preferably formed from resilient, plasticmaterials such as, for example, polypropylene, polyethylene, and thelike.

A skirt 16 depends from the periphery of the top wall to permitattachment of the overcap to a container by engaging the skirt with anoutwardly extending peripheral ridge 17 (see FIGURE 2) on the container11, which ridge can be, for example, a conventional can bead. The skirt16 is split by a discontinuity 18 at the points where the hinge 15intersects the periphery of top wall 12 so that the two portions of theovercap, i.e., the cover portion 13 and the door portion 14, can befreely moved relative to one another about the hinge, without therestraining effect of a continuous skirt. Thus, the depending skirt 16is divided into two separate skirts, the first depending skirt 19 oncover portion 13 and the depending skirt 20 on door portion 14. Asshown, top wall 12 has a depression 21 formed in the cover portion and adepression 22 formed in the door portion. These depressions arepreferably provided to reduce the tendency of top wall 12 to warp, butare not absolutely necessary. Molded into the outer surface of doorportion 14 is a restraining clasp 23, which is adapted to hold theovercap 10 in the fully opened position in a manner which will behereinafter described.

In FIGURE 2, the overcap 10 is shown in a partially open position andshows the relationship of the peripheral ridge 17 to the overcap 10 andto the sidewall of the container 11. Although the overcap of the presentinvention is shown in the drawing in conjunction with a can having achime at the end to which the overcap is to be applied, it should berecognized that the invention is not limited to use with cans havingchimes, but is broadly applicable to containers which have sidewallsthat include an outwardly extending, peripheral ridge.

Overcap 10 is releasably attached to container 11 by ridge-engagingmeans 26, 29 positioned on the inner surfaces of the depending skirts19, 20, respectively, as more clearly shown in FIGURE 3. Theridge-engaging means 26, 29 can be a continuous, inwardly facingperipheral projection or bead on each of the skirts 19, 20 and isadapted to overlie the outer and lower portion of the ridge 17.Alternatively, the ridge-engaging means 26, 29 can be a discontinuousprojection or a series of individual, spaced, bead-like projectionswhich overlie portions of ridge 17. Preferably, ridge-engaging means 26,29, whether continuous or discontinuous, are positioned along thecomplete periphery of each of depending skirts 19, 20 so as to permitsubstantially uniform contact along the periphery and thus effect asubstantially uniform closure between the overcap 10 and container 11.

The cover portion 13 of overcap 10 includes a second depending skirt 25,which is parallel to and spaced inwardly from the first depending skirt19 and which extends along the non-hinged periphery of cover portion 13.Skirt 25 and skirt 19 cooperatively grip the ridge 17 to securely attachcover portion 13 to container 11. Skirt 25 can be continuous as shown inFIGURE 3, or it can be discontinuous. However, if it is discontinuous,it is preferred that there be a number of locations where the ridge iscooperatively contacted by portions of both first skirt 19 and secondskirt 25, to insure tight and uniform gripping action and to precludeunintentional removal of cover portion 13 from container 11.

FIGURE 4 shows an enlarged, fragmentary, cross-sectional view of oneform of ridge 17, a can chime, and the first and second depending skirts19 and 25, respectively, that cooperatively grip it. The can chime shownis of conventional construction and is a standard, doubleseamed headwhich is well known to those skilled in the art. First depending skirt19 has a projection 26 which contacts the lower, outer portion 27 ofridge 17, whereby the overcap 10 is attached to container 11. The secondskirt 25 is adapted to bear against the vertical portion 28 of the wallforming the inside surface of ridge 17 and in conjunction with the firstskirt 19, to substantially surround ridge 17 and cooperatively grip itso that cover portion 13 is firmly yet releasably attached thereto.Preferably, the attachment is such that a moderate degree of force isrequired to remove cover portion 13 from container 11 in order topreclude inadvertent removal and still permit intentional removal, ifdesired.

The depending skirts 19, 25 can be the same depth, or they can be ofdifferent depths as shown in FIGURE 4. The depth of first skirt 19 isdetermined by the distance between the lowermost portion of ridge 17 andthe uppermost portion of the container 11, while the depth of secondskirt 25 is determined by the distance between the uppermost portion ofcontainer 11 and the top wall thereof.

The structure of the ridge-engaging means 29 on the door portion of theovercap is shown as a projection in FIGURE 5. Ridge-engaging means 29can be of the same configuration as projection 26 of the first skirt 19on cover portion 13, as shown in FIGURE 4. However, it need not be ofthat specific configuration and can be of any configuration so long asit permits door portion 14 of the overcap to be closed and held in aclosed position. Although shown as a continuous projection,ridgeengaging means 29 can be of only limited extent and can comprise asection of relatively short length positioned opposite from hinge 15.Ridge-engaging means 29 can also be discontinuous at spaced positionsabout the inner surface of the skirt 20. Preferably, however, whethercontinuous or discontinuous, it encompasses the complete inner surfaceof skirt 20 so that uniform contact and closure is maintained betweenovercap 10 and container 11. Since door portion 14 is intended to beopened and closed numerous times, it is preferred that the fit betweenridge-engaging means 29 and ridge 17 be sutficiently tight to preventdoor portion 14 from inadvertently popping open, yet not be so tightthat excessive force is required to open the package.

In the cross section of FIGURE 3, the integral hinge 15 which forms apart of the present invention is shown as a section of reduced thicknesscomprising a triangular depression on the inner surface of top wall 12.This configuration for the hinge is illustrative only and theconfigurations in FIGURES 6 and 7 can also be employed. Preferably, thehinge is molded in place for maximum flex life at the joint, but it canbe formed by contacting the surface in which the hinge is to be formedwith a hot wire to melt and displace a portion of the material tothereby form a section of reduced thickness, or by forming the hingeinto an already-formed panel by cutting material therefrom to providethe reduced thickness section. The trapezoidal configuration for thedepression on the inner surface of the top wall as shown in FIGURE 7 ispreferred since the section having reduced thickness is larger, and thusthe tensile and compressive stresses which result when the overcap isopened and the hinge is flexed are less because a larger bend radius isformed with this configuration as compared with the configurations shownin FIGURES 3 and 6. The thickness of the hinge at the point of reducedthickness is preferably from about 20% to about 50% of the thickness ofthe adjacent panel and can range from about 0.008 inch to about 0.018inch, depending upon the ease of closing and opening desired.

The overcap can be locked in a fully opened position by engaging lip 30of restraining clasp 23 to outer peripheral head 31 positioned along theupper peripheral surface of the outer skirt as shown in FIGURE 8.Restraining clasp 23 is positioned on the upper surface of door portion14, and lip 30 thereof is spaced from hinge 15 a distance correspondingto the distance between outer peripheral bead 31 on cover portion 13 andhinge 15 so that when door portion 14 is opened to its maximum extentand the upper surfaces of door portion 14 and cover portion 13 aresubstantially in contact with each other,

lip 30 formed in clasp 23 engages with outer peripheral head 31positioned on the upper and outermost section of the first dependingskirt 19 of cover portion 13. The peripheral extent of bead 31 can besuch that it extends around the entire outer periphery of cover portion13, or it can be of limited extent and positioned diagonally oppositethe clasp 23.

The overcap of the present invention can be formed by utilizing knownmolding techniques for resilient, thermoplastic materials. Preferably,it is injection molded so that relatively close tolerances can bemaintained to insure proper fit between the overcap and its associatedcontainer. If desired, however, it also can be formed usingthermoforming or compression molding techniques. If it is thermoformed,it will be necessary to make the hinge in the overcap after it isformed, since in thermoforming the entire top wall will have a uniformthickness and in order for the hinge to operate properly it must have asection of reduced thickness.

It can thus be seen that the overcap of the present invention provides asignificant improvement over a plain fiat cover lid in that it permitsreclosure and opening of the container with only one hand. Furthermore,since the overcap is relatively permanently attached to the container,it is less likely to be inadvertently misplaced or lost. Additionally,since the former plastic overcaps had to be completely removed from thecontainer and subsequently reapplied, it frequently happened that theclosure was inadvertently pushed into the interior of the container inthe course of being reapplied and thus contacted the product. Thisresults in a messy and undesirable condition which the present inventioneliminates.

While particular embodiments of the invention have been illustrated anddescribed, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variouschanges and modifications can be made without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention, and it is intended to cover in the appendedclaims all such changes and modifications that are within the scope ofthis invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A hinged overcap for a container having sidewalls including anoutwardly-extending peripheral ridge, said overcap being of unitaryconstruction and formed from a substantially flexible materialcomprising:

(a) a top wall having an outline corresponding in shape to the crosssection of the opening of the container to which the closure is to beapplied, said top wall having an integral hinge of reduced thicknessformed therein to divide said closure into a stationary cover portionand a movable door portion hingedly attached thereto along a commonboundary;

(b) a first skirt depending from the periphery of said top wall andadapted to overlie at least a part of the sides of said container, saidfirst skirt being discontinuous at the points where said hingeintersects the periphery of said top wall and having ridge-engagingmeans on its inner surface, said ridge-engaging me ns being spaced fromthe inner surface of said top wall; and

(c) a second skirt depending from said top wall, said second skirtextending along the non-hinged periphery of said cover portion of saidtop wall and disposed parallel to said first sidewall and spacedtherefrom a distance corresponding to the lateral thickness of saidridge.

2. The closure of claim 1 wherein said cover portion has an externalperipheral bead opposite said hinge and said door portion has anintegral restraining clasp with a lip adapted to overlie said externalperipheral bead, whereby to permit said closure to be restrained in afully open position by the cooperative engagement of said clasp and saidexternal peripheral head.

3. The closure of claim 2 wherein the ridge-engaging means of said firstskirt is discontinuous.

4. The closure of claim 3 wherein said second skirt has a smaller depththan said first skirt.

5. The closure of claim 4 wherein said second skirt is discontinuous.

6. The closure of claim 5 wherein said stationary cover portioncomprises a minor portion of said top wall.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1965 Wiley et a1. 220-31XR5/1967 Foster 220 US. Cl. X.R. 220-29, 31

